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Building a Diverse Portfolio in the Private Markets

Master the UK's most powerful tax incentives for early-stage investing. Learn how to reduce your tax exposure while backing innovation.

What You'll Learn

This comprehensive guide breaks down everything you need to know about S/EIS investing, from the fundamentals to advanced portfolio strategies.

01

The Fundamentals

What qualifies as “late-stage” and “pre-IPO”.

02

Tax Relief Explained

Why more companies are staying private for longer.

03

FC's Approach

Understanding preferred shares, liquidation prefs, ROFRs

04

Real-World Returns

Key risks: valuation compression, illiquidity, timing exits

05

Common Mistakes

The importance of Share price over valuation

06

Common Mistakes

Why access ≠ quality (differentiating hype from signal)

07

Common Mistakes

Pre-IPO ≠ imminent IPO — setting expectations

08

Common Mistakes

Case study: OpenAI, Stripe, Anthropic (anonymised FC plays if needed)

09

Your Action Plan

Tax considerations (UK and US)

Your 2025 Tax-Efficient Strategy

Despite market headwinds, S/EIS schemes continue supporting UK innovation, with SEIS deployment surging 51% in 2023/24 after limit increases. As the 2025/26 tax year approaches, sophisticated investors are positioning portfolios to maximise up to 50% income tax relief while backing high-growth companies.

Who This Guide Is For

High Earners

UK taxpayers in the 40-45% bracket looking to reduce tax exposure while investing in innovation

Angel Investors

Individuals making their first direct startup investments and wanting to understand the tax landscape

Exited Founders

Entrepreneurs with liquidity events seeking to reinvest in the ecosystem tax-efficiently

Chapter 5: Common mistakes

The biggest mistake we see isn't about tax relief—it's about forgetting why you're investing in the first place. SEIS/EIS should amplify good investment decisions, not justify bad ones. The tax benefit is the cherry on top, not the cake itself.
Part of the guide of S/EIS Investing, by Founders Capital. Available for Free.

Who This Guide Is For

This guide finally demystified S/EIS for me. I've been investing for years but never truly understood the timing and pitfalls until now.

Stan Johnson

CTO at Nothing
The case study on real returns was incredibly insightful. It's rare to see this level of transparency from an investment firm.

Margaret Olsior

Self Entrepreneur
As someone new to angel investing, this was the most practical and actionable resource I've found. No fluff, just real insights.

Markus Smart

Angel Investor

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